The youth demographic is increasing around the world faster than jobs. Dr Beeka’s paper below distributed at the unveiling of 11th November 2016 discusses the need to donate One Million Books to Africa to educate the young on how to build life and career skills. Africa is one continent however the circumstances described below apply to other continents of the world. Thus, our ECC book donation project now covers the rest of the world. The ECC from the second and last quarter of 2017 will start to donate One Million Entrepreneurship Books worldwide, beyond youths to every relevant person that requires career development knowledge. 1MillionEntrepreneurs Book Donation 2017-2027
Join Us to Change the World-One Person at a Time, Lets feed minds, teach people how to fish and own ponds!
ENTREPRENEURSHIP CAREER CENTRE (ECC): ENTREPRENEURSHIP FRAMEWORK, LITERACY AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT UNVEILING, LONDON, 16 NOVEMBER 2016
The African youth charter generally defined youths as those between 15-35 years. This ECC project aims to encourage youth entrepreneurial careers to change lives, enrich wellbeing, advance society and enable growth. African youths comprise majority of the African population of 1.2bn people. However, this valuable human resource occupies minority status in the economy. Yet, enterprise is an innovative way of assimilating youths into the economic environment given changing career paths. The ECC book donation to at least 1 million youths, training, and conceptual framework increases appreciation of the variables encountered over the lifecycle of the career, to support and encourage African youth entrepreneurship.
Additionally, the African development agenda recognizes entrepreneurship, and the small business sector addresses unemployment, creates work, alleviates poverty and transforms economies. Likewise, Shariff (2000) explained by worldwide comparison Sub-Saharan Africa’s youths have the highest self-employment inclination.
High youth unemployment and underemployment is fundamental to the growing problems around the world including in African countries causing diverse economic, social and moral issues. A World Bank survey of 200,000 people in 20 countries specified apathy and worry among the poor, with self-employment and wages tools for upward mobility (Jenkins, 2007).
It is important to build African youth entrepreneurial careers and abilities, which also addresses employability skills for effective engagement as employees. However, there is scarcity of systematic literature providing African entrepreneurship learning, this project supports this empirical and theoretical gaps now developing an African business leader’s textbook. Furthermore, Chigunta (2002b) shows the level of youth entrepreneurship and self-employment is high in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to other developed countries, but in comparison to African adults noticeably lower. Africa Commission (2009) declares more men engage in entrepreneurial activity compared to women, and older youths run more enterprises than younger youths. These studies need greater investigation for each African country, however, in Nigeria the NBS/ SMEDAN (2010) survey indicates those within the youth age dominate the small business sector.
A Zambian study (e.g., Chigunta, 2001) shows 92.3% of youth businesses due to necessity to escape socio-economic problems, out of these 46.2% cite unemployment, 30.8% supplementing household income, 15.4% poverty and 7.7% the need to accumulate wealth as the major venturing reason. Similarly, in Malawi (e.g., Kambewa, et al., 2001) youth entrepreneurs cite unemployment and poverty (Chigunta, 2002b). A survey by NBS/ SMEDAN (2010) confirms more Nigerian women operate within the informal and micro sectors. However, a Gallup poll and Beeka and Rimmington (2011) show mostly opportunity entrepreneurial intentions among Nigerian youths (Rheault and Tortora, 2008). Therefore, Chigunta argues while easy to dismiss the entrepreneurial aspirations of African entrepreneurs as arising from lack of alternatives, the reality is various factors contribute, such as, changes within the political and social environment, and lower wages in the formal economy. Additionally, self-employment is increasingly seen as an employment option (Chigunta, 2002b, Beeka, 2015). One rationale why many young African entrepreneurs are opportunity rather than necessity entrepreneurs (Beeka and Rimmington, 2011, Beeka, 2015). Basically, entrepreneurship facilitates personal development enabling self-esteem and independence. Additionally, the OECD asserts within the same age group, young self-employed individuals boast higher “life satisfaction”. See list below why youth entrepreneurship is important and should be encouraged.
The Importance of Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship (Beeka, 2015; Chigunta, 2002b):
Revitalise the nation, local community and support innovation/creativity.
Enable employment opportunities for self-employed youth and jobs for others.
Support opportunity recognition, development and value chain transformation
Enable marginalised youth participate in the social and economic mainstream.
Address the social ills and socio-psychological issues associated with unemployment.
Encourage the use of technology in business development and encourage resilient youths.
Youth run enterprises provide especially the marginalised, a sense of identity, meaning, belonging and psychological satisfaction.
Enterprise assists young women and men develop new productive skills
Business experiences enable learning which are applied to resolve other challenges in life.
Encourage informal businesses to become formal due to planning and growth.
Provide role models needed for intergenerational transformation and wealth creation.
Entrepreneurs being problem-solvers, provide solutions for competitive economies
The youth run businesses contribute taxes boosting government earnings and community services.
These businesses support sustainable institutions and contribute to the GDP.
Therefore, entrepreneurship is a viable career and employment option for the youth (and for all).
The wealth of a nation depends on resourceful humans who develop the economy through entrepreneurship. Africa is rich country in terms of her natural and human resources but poor in supporting and converting these into long-term social and economic growth. This ECC project refocuses on encouraging and developing the entrepreneurial capacity of African youths. Learning from pragmatic entrepreneurial behavior and lessons, helps understanding the entrepreneurial process. This will alleviate poverty and some social ills associated with youth unemployment and exclusion. Additionally, the ECC project encourages implementable support for an entrepreneurial economy.
This ECC project intends to contribute to enterprise career perception, the supply of entrepreneurs, social, and economic prosperity through the empowerment of African youths. This is an essential factor in the alleviation of youth un/under employment and a critical requirement for sustainable development (SDG’s). Research shows those exposed to positive entrepreneurship create decent work. It is therefore vital to encourage entrepreneurial careers, opportunity identification and development through our targeted education, literacy, training, resource donation and good regulations. It is essential to empower the young to play a crucial role in their economic development. Millions of young African men and women aspire to gain employability and entrepreneurial skills to better their lives stimulating socio-economic development in their communities, home and the diaspora. However, they face perennial constraints, including from networks, lack of understanding of entrepreneurial careers, and stringent regulations. Nevertheless, as poverty permeates, unemployment worsens, white-collar jobs disappear, and new career paths emerge, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship could substantially address these gaps. It is thus, in our interest to partner and contribute to the growth of viable home and diaspora African entrepreneurs who can operate competitively within communities, nationally and even at the international level to redistribute wealth.
‘Leaders Love Learning’
Get in touch. We can help if you would you like to become an Entrepreneur
Please Donate the Gift of Books. Help Change the World-One Person at a Time, Lets feed minds, and teach individuals how to fish, own ponds, work effectively or create jobs!